


Understanding The Ursa

by pyrrhickong



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Fluff, Implied Relationships, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 06:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3681024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyrrhickong/pseuds/pyrrhickong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Naoto Shirogane decides that a date with Teddie is preferable to a day with Rise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Understanding The Ursa

**Author's Note:**

> I would like it to be explicitly stated that I do not know pacing at all.
> 
> Just a thought I had. Not very happy with how Teddie is generally written. Wanted to give a nice friendship-based fic, put in the seeds of some relationships, and develop two characters who I think should interact more and really don't.

"I refuse."

"Aw come on, Nao-chan! You're a beauty of beauties, like an oyster crafted of diamonds with two pearls made of even diamondey-er diamonds inside!"

Teddie tugged gently and teasingly at the door of the dressing room. In his left hand contained her pants and jacket. At least he'd left her with the dignity to keep her hat, as little comfort as that left her. The thought came to her that he could likely easily deflate himself to sink underneath the dressing room door, allowing her further vulnerability. She had decided - more hoped, really, for Teddie's sake - that it was out of the limited politeness that he possessed, rather than the fact that he simply hadn't realized he could easily peek at her undergarments given only a small amount of effort. Or that it was his sense of self-preservation; that also worked. Still, she was cornered by a bear, and paralyzed with fear at the specific claws poised to leap at her.

How she ended up in this situation… no, she knew exactly how she ended up in this situation, that's not an excuse that she could make to herself. The words 'girls' day out' had been used by Rise, and instantly she had known what that would mean. Naoto Shirogane was not the type to go out on any day, much less one devoted to the joys of femininity. However, when Rise had you in her sights, there was little that could be done; failure to comply would surely result in something worse.

Therefore, a proper excuse - no, a proper reason that she could not attend such an excursion - was necessary. She hadn't so much as gotten to open her mouth before Rise chimed in with "Don't even THINK about your grandpa, Naoto-kun! He said that you've earned time to enjoy your friends with your hard work! Even a detective's gotta smell the roses, or else they won't be able to enjoy what they're protecting!" Aside from that fact that she was about to correct Rise on detective work typically being a reactionary job, Naoto had little doubt that her grandfather would be willing to defend her from socialization when he knew well that her plans were fairly free this winter. 

Yu-senpai was a possibility. However, there ran the risk of jealousy. His popularity was a well-known fact, and though her other three companions failed to see past their positive relationships with him, Naoto herself was removed enough from his spell to realize that at least a tiny romantic inclination was placed within each of them. Stating that she had a private day with Yu planned would be less than optimal, especially in front of Rise.

Yosuke-senpai was not a possibility. Not only was he busy with his work, various families on vacation or unable to do much outdoors due to the winter weather swarming Junes, but she had no particular inclination toward him. He had an interest in motorcycles, which she had initially tried to bridge a gap with him using. However, it soon became apparent that her interest in every mechanical working of the vehicle and his interest in 'the ride looking hot' were as incompatible with a mutual interest as they were with any other topic.

Kanji-kun would be the most comforting and logical option. He was in Naoto's same class, they often spent their lunch period together, and they had a surprising amount to discuss between the two of them; conversations with him were the closest Naoto ever came to idle chit-chat. However, she had felt there was some form of tension between them. Ever since he had attempted to teach her skiing, she'd begun noticing that he started to experience flu-like symptoms each time he made contact with her. She'd begun to suspect her laundry detergent was the culprit, but this hypothesis was swiftly dismissed after changing brands and the symptoms persisting. Pangs of guilt were found in her chest - irrational, she knew, but so was most emotion - when thinking about him struggling to be near her. Until this was solved, she did not wish to burden him, so this thought too was dismissed.

This left one major option of their group. It was reasonable enough. The words formed in her head: I have this date reserved to speak with Teddie". In actuality, it was something she was considering for quite some time. Teddie was as fascinating a creature as he was a friend, and she'd wanted to explore the possibility of learning more from him for some time. It would be a good opportunity, for the both of them.

No sooner had Naoto opened her mouth to speak than Rise gripped Naoto's shoulders. Memories of events within the Amagi Inn Hot Springs flooding into her mind. Naoto's mind began racing; she'd taken too long, Rise was about to strike. Rise was going to whisper something in her ear, and that would likely doom her to a day of being a victim of dresses, makeup, and jewelry, swarmed by the others in an attempt to celebrate the female form. Something that had to be avoided. So she said the statement she was preparing, best she could.

"I-I have this date… w-with Teddie!"

Naoto quickly tore away after that. Upon Rise's first text, followed by two from Chie and one from Yosuke, she shut off her phone for the day. There was no turning back now…

\---

 

It hadn't taken much to get Teddie to go along with it. What HAD taken considerable difficulty, however, was to get him to stop referring to this excursion as a 'date'. Though it was a private excursion and would therefore fit the basic description of a 'date', she admitted, there were specific connotations that she was well aware of (and Teddie was also aware of, unfortunately) that had to be avoided. Calling it a 'private lesson' proceeded to bring up a point with Yosuke involving Yukiko and that option was dismissed almost immediately. She settled on calling it a 'day with her favorite commercial mascot', as Teddie clung to the word 'favorite' and she clung to the fact that the only thing it seemed to be doing to harm her was making her appear to support Junes.

The trip to Okina was rather awkward, though. Mostly in that Teddie took up two seats on the train car and was brightly-colored, and that he was tightly holding and nuzzling the arm of the lithe detective.

"Nao-chan, you have even softer hands than the girls in Yosuke's closet say they have!" Teddie praised. Naoto raised an eyebrow at this comment, before Teddie quickly added, "In his books! All the nurses have soft hands and something called bedside manners, which I think means they own big houses with big beds inside of them! A nest of love within a den of contentment, hearts aflutter in the sweet, soft embrace of--"

"It means they are skilled at nursing from an emotional standpoint." Naoto swiftly corrected. She had no desire to hear more of either boy's fantasies.

"Awwww, but I was getting to the best part!" Teddie pouted, shaking his head. Naoto looked down at him. This bear had been quite the handful ever since she'd met him. Loose in mannerisms, flirtatious, not good at holding his tongue at all… 'wild' was certainly an apt description of the beast, Naoto thought. Untamed, unrefined, and…

… And then a thought occurred to her. She put a finger to Teddie's lips, eliciting a blush from the both of them. It took a bit for either to calm down from this action, but at the very least, Teddie's curiosity was piqued enough to keep him from stammering out various come-ons.

"Teddie." Naoto inhaled sharply. This was uncomfortable territory she was about to tread. However, she assured herself, the risks were far lower than the potential benefits. In fact, this had the potential to greatly strengthen her friendship with Teddie. She just had to bridge a gap all on her own - something that she'd never done before without being pushed into a television and forced to reach that point. Not the best track record…

"Nao-chan, you have your serious face on again! I thought this was supposed to be a fun day with your favorite mascot?" Teddie winked at her with a massive grin, teetering back and forth with the rocking of the train. Naoto gave a sigh, but found the expression at least somewhat contagious as she gave a small smile back.

"Teddie," she began again, "if I may ask a question of you. How is it that you think of women?"

Teddie's face quickly took a curious look as he brought a paw to his ear, idly scratching it. "Hmmmmm, what a beary interesting question, Nao-chan! Doesn't everyone know? The ladies are a glorious species, with smoking hot bodies and cute features that need to be properly wooed by us men! It is my duty, as a gentlebear, to charm as many as possible!"

A hand was gently put to the brim of Naoto's hat. That was roughly what she had expected, but the wording… the way in which he said it was interesting. As if it were less of an opinion and more definite. As if…

"Do you believe that to be true of all women?"

Teddie's eyes widened in fear to the size of saucers. "Oh nooooo! Only the ladies who would look incredible in figure and form, who are proud to be ladies and who should be! Like you, Nao-chan! Eventually, you must liberate your fine form for all the world to see!"

Naoto gently pursed her lips. So it was not a universal condition. She'd also assumed that - Teddie always had some level of apprehension when dealing with Kashiwagi-san. It was an action that would be considered normal for any student, but Teddie wasn't any regular being to begin with. Still, Teddie's objectification was odd, at least when compared to normal means. Usually, it was seen as some kind of masculine pride, often belittling women to a lesser - or at least more subservient - role. Teddie, however, seemed to have the utmost respect for females, just with all of the tact of a harem manga protagonist. Further investigation was required.

"I'm going to say something now. I'd like you to listen, Teddie, as I believe that it might be true of you." Naoto put her hand to her chin, stroking it gently. The bear was receptive, looking toward Naoto with bright eyes and a gentle nod. She began.

"Your first experience with human contact… no, let me reiterate. Your first direct human interaction was with Yosuke-senpai and Yu-senpai. As you were a being of the TV World at that time, it's more than likely that this interaction was the first to shape your developing emotions and ego. In that, you were shown a heroic action from Yu-senpai, which allowed you to call him 'sensei'. I theorize this began to shape your moral compass. Though I, of course, don't know all the details."

"Sensei pounded Yosuke's shadow hard!" Teddie cheerfully added. Naoto stammered for a bit at that comment, blushing.

"You then would have had your first interaction with a woman in Chie-senpai, as well as Yukiko-senpai's shadow. It was… likely due to the circumstances that you found women to be something to protect, or something worth protecting. In contrast, I was told that Yu-senpai had certain apprehensions regarding Kanji-kun's rescue…" she thought back to what she had been told. She'd seen that it was a sauna of some kind, and knew that Kanji's self-acceptance had to do with gender roles. However, she couldn't tie the environment to a specific image that Kanji projected, and had not wanted to pry further. She was, after all, told by her senpai that Kanji's acceptance of himself was 'the most terrifying'.

"Nao-chan? Are you saying that I should think Kanji is a hot stud? " Teddie tilted his head a bit, considering the point, leaving Naoto with a bemused smile. "That doesn't sound right. Do you think Kanji's a hot stud?" Teddie looked with open and honest curiosity. Naoto proceeded to blush and stammer until the train screeching to a halt rocked her out of a series of conflicting thoughts. What she found attractive was irrelevant, and blurry.

Teddie seemed to be attracted to everything. She… had tried her best to separate herself from her body's natural reactions, emotional or hormonal. What did she find attractive? What… no, this was about Teddie at the moment. They still had two stops to go, she noted; enough time to finish their conversation and then… do something, eventually.

"T-that's not what I meant to imply. I meant to say that it." Naoto choked on her own breath. Taking a deep inhalation, she continued, level-headed. "It explains why you don't enjoy letting Kanji pet your fur, but would invite Chie-senpai or Yukiko-senpai to do so. Considering that your awakening to your persona took place in Rise-san's… area of the TV World, that also likely further developed the idea of the body being powerful. In short…" Naoto could hardly help herself. She extended her arm and pointed right at Teddie, her finger extended as powerfully as she possibly could muster. "You, Teddie, have had your entire psyche shaped by the whims of emotionally confused and somewhat sexually contorted teenagers, forming your world view with little room for correction!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Teddie exclaimed, his face stuck in absolute shock for several seconds. Then his face quietly and quickly relaxed as he lowered his gaze in thought.

"What does that mean, Nao-chan?"

Naoto rubbed her temples gently. She shouldn't expect him to get it right away, but she'd hoped he would more easily understand. "It means that no one has ever really told you how to behave and have proper manners. You've been so expressive and such an emotional heart to our team that… that I believe we forget that you're always learning. And we, at ages fifteen through seventeen, have been ill equipped to teach you about this world. Or at least, we haven't done so properly."

Teddie continued staring hard at the floor of the train for several seconds. It was the longest Naoto had ever seen him think. She worried that she'd overstepped some kind of line, or hurt him. She'd been told repeatedly that ignorance was bliss - never understood it, of course, the notion was absolutely foolish and the truth had more than proven itself as a necessity in recent months - but Teddie's optimism seemed endless, and to have damaged that would…

Those fears were quickly quelled with a paw being put on Naoto's hand. Teddie looked directly into her eyes, and Naoto saw something. A star, shining inside of his pupil. It was small, and should have been impossible, but she could see the literal twinkle in Teddie's eye. And at the moment, she was being reflected in it.

"I want everyone to laugh and be happy, Nao-chan. I don't get a lot of stuff, but I'm beary eager to learn! I know I don't get things quite right, but that's no reason to stop trying! I know that someday, with all of you, I'll get it! So for right now…" Teddie paused and then put a paw on Naoto's chest. She blushed at first, but then realized he wasn't rubbing or groping, as she'd come to expect from any of her friends who would make contact with that area (and especially him). Teddie just gently closed his eyes, listening to her heartbeat.

"You can be my second sensei, Nao-chan! Be the master of this grizzly squire, so that he may one day become the white knight of women's dreams!"

Naoto didn't move for a long while. The train came to a halt as the doors to their stop opened. Naoto instinctively rose to her feet, and gently set her hand on Teddie's head, petting it affectionately.

"You'll be a fine knight for someone someday, Teddie. I don't know how good of a teacher I can be, especially compared to your current sensei… but I'll try."

She was quickly wrapped into a hug and twirled out of the train. Somehow, it was a little less embarrassing than his far more subtle embrace earlier.

\---

So here she found herself, in a changing room in a strip mall, her outfit stolen and only a lavender dress staring at her. This was the bear's plot all along… to lure her into his den and strike. To be fair, it wasn't the most revealing dress, it would just… naturally show off the curves that she had. Which was more than distressing and definitely not a step that she was ready to take.

He'd lured her in with the promise of something simple - a women's blouse instead of a men's pressed shirt and a new pair of pants - before robbing her of all clothing from under her nose as she was changing and replacing it with the light purple terror. If she knew this is what he meant by 'he would teach her, too', she likely would've considered introducing him to the fur shop as an exotic product rather than a customer. No, calm down. That was a bit too cruel. She'd leave it to Yukiko-senpai to say something like that if she wanted to get away with that kind of comment.

It took her a moment to feel that he'd thrown something over the door, it landing squarely on the side of her face and falling to the ground. It was light in both weight and color, and upon further investigation, proved to be a blonde wig of about shoulder-length hair, leaving a gentle wave down the back with its golden trail. Naoto blinked at it for a moment before realizing Teddie intended for her to put it on. Before she could raise the obvious protests, Teddie replied.

"I figure since Nao-chan wants to look cool and detective-y, what if we replace her with a Naomi-chan? Just so that Nao-chan can have fun! It could be like a spy mission: see how a teen beauty queen lives to better get into the mind and spirit of the thing!"

Hundreds of protests entered Naoto's mind… but Teddie was preying on the right weaknesses. Going incognito, no one would know it was her if she just raised her voice a little. Wearing feminine clothing would already make her far more indistinguishable. And if she was going to help Teddie through something difficult for him to understand, she might as well return the favor. She wasn't being asked to wear something revealing, and she wasn't even being asked to look feminine in her own name. Teddie was just trying to make her feel good in one of the ways he knew how to.

Naoto stepped out of the booth a few minutes later, blushing fiercely as a trail of blonde fell from her head, stuck on her head with enough pins to ensure that a tornado couldn't remove the wig. Teddie gave a whistle as her dress gently blew against her lower thighs and hugged her well above her breastline. "Wow, Nao-chan! You're gorgeous! I bet Kanji would go bananas for a sweet like you!"

She retreated back in the booth. Why was it always 'I think Kanji would like that' with Rise or Teddie? Just because they were in the same class and were dear friends did not mean that they were conjoined at the hip! Though… bananas for a sweet… he would find it to look good, perhaps? Though, she noted, from what Kanji had taught her before, the fabric didn't seem 'stitched with love', as she felt a bit of discomfort in her back. She'd have to get him to resize it and…

… Well, after long enough, mulling over various thoughts, she came out and decided that light musculature on a young man was quite attractive. Considering how many things Teddie found attractive, her to have one couldn't hurt too badly, right?

Naoto exited the booth smiling, and took Teddie's hand. "You've given me something to think about already. I'd say you're quite the adept sensei on your own." She giggled. She surprised herself, her, giggling. Something that would be absolutely out of the question… but not for Naomi Shirogane. This alternate persona was like a school uniform, one that hid her true self but allowed it to learn and identified her as the student to her sensei. And her smile grew when she saw Teddie blushing.

"Hahaha yeeeep! Definitely ummmm… w-well um, let's go! There's a whole world ahead of us!"

Naoto looked Teddie in the eye. They beamed at each other, eager to learn. Naoto sighed contently as they walked down the Okina strip. She was certain that she had Teddie both would want to show off the fruits of their studies to their friends very soon.


End file.
